The present invention pertains to disposable pants having inward crotch seams and methods of making such pants.
Pant-like disposable garments have numerous applications including disposable clothing, training pants, feminine care products, adult incontinence products, disposable swimwear, or the like. Pant-like disposable garments are typically three-dimensional products with closed sides so that the product has a unitary waist opening and two leg openings. The wearer raises and lowers the garment to apply the product. Three-dimensional, pant-like products are particularly appealing because the pant has a very garment-like look.
Many disposable pants are formed as composite structures in which several components are combined to form a product specifically suited to its intended purpose. For example, disposable pants often include one or more absorbent materials intended to absorb various bodily exudates such as urine, menstrual fluid, and sweat. Such products may include a liquid permeable bodyside liner and a liquid impermeable outer cover, and can include other materials and features such as elastic materials and containment structures.
However, many disposable pants are aesthetically unappealing. Existing disposable absorbent pants are often overly bulky and often resemble disposable baby diapers. Various attempts have been made to provide disposable pants having an improved, more clothing-like appearance. However, disposable pants, particularly disposable absorbent pants, present many manufacturing challenges. In part, this is due to the high speed that is necessary to economically produce relatively low-cost disposable absorbent products. Often, product design is compromised by cost and manufacturing constraints, with the result that disposable pants often lack aesthetic appeal and product function.
Thus, what is lacking and needed in the art are garment-like, aesthetically appealing disposable pants, as well as methods of efficiently manufacturing such pants.